[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-607402422.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n
\n\tAn iconic piece of\u00a0Star Wars<\/em>\u00a0memorabilia smashed predictions and sold for a record-setting sum.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tHeritage Auctions\u00a0confirmed late Wednesday afternoon that Mark Hamill\u2019s original screen-used Luke Skywalker lightsaber sold for $3.75 million. It\u2019s the one he wielded during a climactic face-off with Darth Vader in 1980\u2019s\u00a0Star Wars: Episode V \u2013 The Empire Strikes Back<\/em>\u00a0until the Sith Lord cut off his hand and delivered the infamous \u201cI am your father\u201d line.<\/p>\n \n\tPer multiple reports, it was originally offered for $1 million and expected to fetch in that range up to $2 million. The $3.75 million sum set a new world auction record for a screen-used\u00a0Star Wars<\/em>\u00a0prop, per Dallas-based Heritage. The previous record was held by an original 20-inch model of an X-wing starfighter used in the space battle in 1977\u2019s\u00a0Star Wars<\/em>, a piece that sold for $3.135 million in October 2023. Both figures are trumped by the record holder in the artwork category as Tom Jung\u2019s original half-sheet key poster painting for\u00a0Star Wars: Episode IV \u2013 A New Hope\u00a0<\/em>sold for $3.875 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThis is one of the most important surviving\u00a0Star Wars<\/em>\u00a0artifacts in existence,\u201d explained Heritage executive vp Joe Maddalena. \u201cIt comes from the emotional climax of\u00a0The Empire Strikes Back<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 the scene that forever changed the saga and produced one of the most unforgettable moments in movie history. Collectors understood that they were bidding on much more than a prop. They were competing for a genuine piece of modern mythology.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe lightsaber was originally constructed from a modified Graflex flash unit and accompanied by the original severed-hand effects rig created by makeup artist Stuart Freeborn, who also helped create Yoda and many of the franchise\u2019s makeup effects. Per Heritage, the lightsaber descended directly from Freeborn, who passed away in London on Feb. 5, 2013.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tWednesday\u2019s sale was part of Heritage\u2019s\u00a0Hollywood & Entertainment Signature Auction, which continues through July 17. Other pieces of movie memorabilia also up for sale during this period have been hats from\u00a0The Wizard of Oz<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory<\/em>,\u00a0Back to the Future II\u00a0<\/em>hoverboards\u00a0The Big Lebowski<\/em>\u00a0rugs and a pair of boots worn by Sylvester Stallone in\u00a0Rocky III.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/news\/mark-hamills-star-wars-lightsaber-breaks-auction-record-1234792441\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-607402422.jpg?w=1024″] An iconic piece of\u00a0Star Wars\u00a0memorabilia smashed predictions and sold for a record-setting sum.\u00a0 Heritage Auctions\u00a0confirmed late Wednesday afternoon that Mark Hamill\u2019s original screen-used Luke Skywalker lightsaber sold for $3.75 million. It\u2019s the one he wielded during a climactic face-off with Darth Vader in 1980\u2019s\u00a0Star Wars: Episode V \u2013 The Empire Strikes Back\u00a0until […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-2049589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2049589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049589\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2049589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2049589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2049589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}